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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 1,423 records · Page 79
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2024

Distributed Sensor Fusion of Ground and Air Nodes Using Vision and Radar Modalities for Tracking Multirotor Small Uncrewed Air Systems and Birds

High-density airspace operations with multiple aircraft type and potentially noncooperative aircraft require distributed sensor detection and tracking systems to monitor airspace for safe, autonomous flight operations for advanced air mobility, urban air mobility, and high density small uncrewed air systems (SUAS) flight concepts. This work collected data using a distributed radar and camera sensor framework during the NASA Advanced Air Mobility High Density Vertiplex project SUAS flight operation. Node locations include on an onboard SUAS, affixed to the Landing and Impact Research Facility with approximate 200ft elevation, on a tripod on first-floor roof with an approximate elevation of 20 ft, and on a tripod on a concrete pad that is approximately 4 ft above sea level. Each node includes camera, radar, and GPS.

Beyond Visual Line of Sight↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Optimal Sensor Mobility Design for Target Tracking with Distributed Sensing, Communication and Computing Infrastructure

The paper presents an airborne target tracking approach with data fusion from distributed stationary and mobile sensor network transmitted through a wireless/wired communication network and using a distributed computing infrastructure. To obtain high quality measurements, sensor flight platforms' positions and orientations are optimized with respect to the available target's position and velocity estimates, and a formation control strategy is applied to derive desired trajectories for the flight platforms. As sensors move, the communication network topology switching is determined using the worst-case approach to handle uncertainties in the target's and sensors' positions, which alters communication delays for sensors' data transmission to computing centers. An optimal data migration algorithm is periodically applied to determine these communication delays for each sensor and the optimal location with minimum end-to-end latency for the target tracking algorithm execution, which is based on adaptive information fusion from multi-modal mobile and stationary sensors inside an Extended Kalman Filter framework. The approach is validated in a desktop simulation environment using synthetic sensor data generated for a simulated target's flight.

Distributed sensing↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

The Distributed Spacecraft Autonomy (DSA)

NASA’s Distributed Spacecraft Autonomy (DSA) Project developed and demonstrated software to enhance multi-spacecraft mission adaptability, efficiently allocate tasks between spacecraft using ad-hoc networking, and enable human-swarm commanding of Distributed Space Missions.

Autonomy Distributed Space Missions↗
NASA NTRS2024

Aerosol Size Distribution Properties Associated With Cold-Air Outbreaks in the Norwegian Arctic

The aerosol particles serving as cloud condensation and ice nuclei contribute to key cloud processes associated with cold-air outbreak (CAO) events but are poorly constrained in climate models due to sparse observations. Here we retrieve aerosol number size distribution modes from measurements at Andenes, Norway, during the Cold-Air Outbreaks in the Marine Boundary Layer Experiment (COMBLE) and at Zeppelin Observatory, approximately 1000 km upwind from Andenes at Svalbard. During CAO events at Andenes, the sea-spray-mode number concentration is correlated with strong over-ocean winds with a mean of 8±4 cm−3 that is 71 % higher than during non-CAO conditions. Additionally, during CAO events at Andenes, the mean Hoppel minimum diameter is 6 nm smaller than during non-CAO conditions, though the estimated supersaturation is lower, and the mean number concentration of particles that likely activated in-cloud is 109±61 cm−3 with no statistically significant difference from the non-CAO mean of 99±66 cm−3. For CAO trajectories between Zeppelin Observatory and Andenes, the upwind-to-downwind change in number concentration is the largest for the accumulation mode with a mean decrease of 93±95 cm−3, likely attributable primarily to precipitation scavenging. These characteristic properties of aerosol number size distributions during CAO events provide guidance for evaluating CAO aerosol–cloud interaction processes in models.

accumulation mode particle scavenging↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Vision-Based Distributed Sensing at Vertiports for Advanced Air Mobility and Urban Air Mobility Approach and Landing

Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) encompasses a broad vision for air transportation, including Urban Air Mobility (UAM) as a subset. AAM aims to create a more connected and efficient transportation network across various geographical settings. However, navigating AAM aircraft in GPS-denied or degraded environments during approach and landing is challenging. Traditional vision aids like glideslopes and localizers are limited in vertiport environments due to narrow beam constraints and reduced landing angle options. This paper addresses the need for accurate navigation solutions at vertiports by proposing a vision-based distributed sensing (VIDIS) system utilizing cameras with bundle adjustment to assist incoming AAM aircraft during approach and landing while monitoring surface movements to enhance safety and efficiency. Key focus areas for current and future vertiport developers include identifying suitable sensor types and infrastructure standards to support AAM operations and including vertiport markings as vision-based navigation aids. The proposed system offers a novel approach to overcoming navigation challenges in AAM operations, particularly in urban settings where traditional aids may be insufficient. Preliminary simulation results with distributed cameras demonstrate promising outcomes for implementing bundle adjustment techniques to enhance vision-based navigation solutions at vertiports. Generating waypoint-based trajectories via waypoint integration using explicit guidance synthesis (WINGS) creates smooth AAM trajectories for landing at vertiports by using the current waypoint's terminal conditions as the initial conditions for the next waypoint. Combining bundle adjustment's ground-based solution of vertiport features with WINGS, Coplanar Pose from Orthography and Scaling with Iterations (COPOSIT), and an extended Kalman filter (EKF) estimates the state of an incoming aircraft during approach and landing at vertiports. Future work includes testing VIDIS in a high-fidelity simulation and with real-world data.

Distributed sensing↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Vision-Based Distributed Sensing at Vertiports for Advanced Air Mobility and Urban Air Mobility Approach and Landing

Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) encompasses a broad vision for air transportation, including Urban Air Mobility (UAM) as a subset. AAM aims to create a more connected and efficient transportation network across various geographical settings. However, navigating AAM aircraft in GPS-denied or degraded environments during approach and landing is challenging. Traditional vision aids like glideslopes and localizers are limited in vertiport environments due to narrow beam constraints and reduced landing angle options. This paper addresses the need for accurate navigation solutions at vertiports by proposing a vision-based distributed sensing (VIDIS) system utilizing cameras with bundle adjustment to assist incoming AAM aircraft during approach and landing while monitoring surface movements to enhance safety and efficiency. Key focus areas for current and future vertiport developers include identifying suitable sensor types and infrastructure standards to support AAM operations and including vertiport markings as vision-based navigation aids. The proposed system offers a novel approach to overcoming navigation challenges in AAM operations, particularly in urban settings where traditional aids may be insufficient. Preliminary simulation results with distributed cameras demonstrate promising outcomes for implementing bundle adjustment techniques to enhance vision-based navigation solutions at vertiports. Generating waypoint-based trajectories via waypoint integration using explicit guidance synthesis (WINGS) creates smooth AAM trajectories for landing at vertiports by using the current waypoint's terminal conditions as the initial conditions for the next waypoint. Combining bundle adjustment's ground-based solution of vertiport features with WINGS, Coplanar Pose from Orthography and Scaling with Iterations (COPOSIT), and an extended Kalman filter (EKF) estimates the state of an incoming aircraft during approach and landing at vertiports. Future work includes testing VIDIS in a high-fidelity simulation and with real-world data.

Distributed sensing↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Cumulative Distribution Overlap Technique for Artemis Mission Public Entry Risk Assessment

The Artemis missions use a skip-entry profile to accomplish a recovery near the western US coastline, however, the service module debris must still be disposed of safely. For certain contingency return scenarios, the expected dispersed entry profile is biased from the well-analyzed corridor. A novel method is presented for assessing the Cumulative Distribution Function (CDF) of these biased results to ensure they do not contribute additional probabilistic risk to the public. More specifically, the weight of the flight path angle dispersion "tail" of the CDF needs to remain below the well-assessed region. The details of how this method was actually used to screen and plan entry profiles for specific launch windows during the Artemis I mission are shown. This method has potential applicability in other problems where a biased distribution needs to be assessed against a well-defined "core" region.

Reentry↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Cumulative Distribution Overlap Technique for Artemis Mission Public Entry Risk Assessment

The Artemis missions use a skip-entry profile to accomplish a recovery near the western US coastline, however, the service module debris must still be disposed of safely. For certain contingency return scenarios, the expected dispersed entry profile is biased from the well-analyzed corridor. A novel method is presented for assessing the Cumulative Distribution Function (CDF) of these biased results to ensure they do not contribute additional probabilistic risk to the public. More specifically, the weight of the flight path angle dispersion "tail" of the CDF needs to remain below the well-assessed region. The details of how this method was actually used to screen and plan entry profiles for specific launch windows during the Artemis I mission are shown. This method has potential applicability in other problems where a biased distribution needs to be assessed against a well-defined "core" region.

Reentry↗
NASA NTRS1967

Distributed errors in orbit transfer.

Probability distribution errors effect in linear and planar impulse orbital transfers, considering angular orientation and impulsive velocity

IMPULSE ORBITAL TRANSFER↗
NASA NTRS1966

Computer programs calculate potential and charge distributions in a plasma

Computer program determines the potential and charge distributions between two electrodes in a plasma. Solutions of the Vlasov equations for plane, cylindrical, and spherical geometries are determined and density distributions are found for each of these configurations over a range of conditions.

Jefferies, N. P.↗
NASA NTRS1968

Computer program calculates and plots surface area and pore size distribution data

Computer program calculates surface area and pore size distribution of powders, metals, ceramics, and catalysts, and prints and plots the desired data directly. Surface area calculations are based on the gas adsorption technique of Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller, and pore size distribution calculations are based on the gas adsorption technique of Pierce.

Halpert, G.↗
NASA NTRS1968

Computer program determines exact two-sided tolerance limits for normal distributions

Computer program determines by numerical integration the exact statistical two-sided tolerance limits, when the proportion between the limits is at least a specified number. The program is limited to situations in which the underlying probability distribution for the population sampled is the normal distribution with unknown mean and variance.

Friedman, H. A.↗
NASA NTRS1968

Application of a truncated normal failure distribution in reliability testing

Statistical truncated normal distribution function is applied as a time-to-failure distribution function in equipment reliability estimations. Age-dependent characteristics of the truncated function provide a basis for formulating a system of high-reliability testing that effectively merges statistical, engineering, and cost considerations.

Groves, C., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1968

Preparing rock powder specimens of controlled size distribution

Apparatus produces rock powder specimens of the size distribution needed in geological sampling. By cutting grooves in the surface of the rock sample and then by milling these shallow, parallel ridges, the powder specimen is produced. Particle size distribution is controlled by changing the height and width of ridges.

Blum, P.↗